Shiver

Written by Maggie Stiefvater

Goodreads Synopsis: 

the cold.

Grace has spent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat. 

Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves. And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.

For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human--and Grace must fight to keep him--even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

My Confession: I commend Stiefvater for creating a paranormal romance that somehow manages to keep both feet in the realm of normal. While the subject of werewolves has been broached and, at times, seriously overdone, there's something different and fresh about the love story between Sam and Grace. For one, their relationship seems extremely real. Perhaps it's the easy and fluent dialogue between the two, but I never second-guessed their sincere feelings for each other. And, given the history the two share before they even meet as humans, there is something special about how quickly they fall into a routine with each other. Take away the supernatural element, and the story loses its urgency. But, at the same time, Shiver does not feel reliant on the notion of creatures-you-never-believed-existed to carry the storyline.

Sam's Shiver: Sam's only a human during the warmest seasons--namely, the months between June and August. For some reason, as soon as it starts getting cold, he--wait for it--shivers, and turns back into a wolf until the warm weather returns. Naturally, that's going to put a kink in his relationship with Grace, especially since he senses that the summer he spends with her will be his last a human. 

The rules Stiefvater puts in place for Sam's transformation creates a sad and omnious tone for the novel's duration. There's a feeling of inevitability that these two lovers will be separated forever. And even though I love a good happy ending, I just didn't see how it could be pulled off without cheapening what came before. Seeing as this is the first book in a trilogy, there is obviously some resolve, but Stiefvater has stated a few times that she wrote these books to make people cry. 

In other words, brace yourselves. 

My Recommendation: As I anxiously await the arrival of Forever (click here to pre-order the final book in this trilogy, out July 12), I enjoy reading this story over. Linger, the second book, will be reviewed here as well in the future, and also packs a somber punch. The series could go either way--happy or sad. And even though there's a part of me that wishes I knew, the lack of predictability is what makes these books so special. Without a strong foundation in Shiver, this series would have nothing to build on. You'll get attached to the characters, but not because they're written in an overly-sympathetic or mushy way. 

It feels like Shiver accomplishes what Stephenie Meyer tried to do in the creation of Twilight's "heroine" Bella. Grace is her own person, but she feels like you, or your best friend. Sam is the boyfriend you always wanted, but when you get him, he both gets on your nerves and inspires spontaneous bursts of love. Wolves aside, this could be your life. Well, not really. But you get my drift.

Rating: 4.2/5

392 pages, published by Scholastic Press (Jan. 1, 2009)

Evenfall

Written by Liz Michalski

Goodreads Synopsis: In life, Frank could've had any woman he wanted.

In death, he'll try to win back the one that mattered...

Frank Wildermuth always regretted a mistake he made as a teenager: choosing Clara Murphy over her sister Gert. And like a true Murphy woman, Gert got on with her life, never admitting to heartbreak. Not even now, decades later, with Frank dead-dead, that is, but not quite gone. Now, Frank's niece, Andie Murphy, is back in town to settle his estate, and she sees that things have changed in Hartman, Connecticut. Aunt Gert still drives her crazy, but Cort, the wide-eyed farmboy she used to babysit, is all grown up-with a whole new definition for the word "sleepover." Even freakier are the whispers. Either Andie's losing her mind, or something she can't see is calling out to her-something that insists on putting right the past.

My Confession: I loved this book. Really, truly loved it. I hadn't heard about this book in advance, it wasn't recommended to me, and I didn't discover it on Goodreads first. This was a beautiful, spontaneous find during a trip to Borders. I walked up and down the isles, and this book caught my eye. The cover is reminiscent of a classic watercolor painting, and something about it was whimsical and inviting. The back cover, which promised a plotline filled with love lost and a ghost who would stop at nothing to keep the past from repeating itself instantly grabbed me. Bonus points for naming the main character Andrea--even if it was shorted to the offensive "Andie" for the majority of the book. The writing was gorgeous and breathtakingly visual. The attention to detail was painstaking and meticulous. As a writer myself, I know how important the little details are, and Evenfall just nails them. The setting, a rural farm town in Connecticut, was very realistic, the atmosphere of a slow (almost sleepy) lifestyle captured perfectly. The characters were extremely real, from the reluctant, unsure Andrea to the handsome, incredibly sexy Colt, and the time-hardened, regretful Gert. But, that brings me to...

The ghost element: Almost nonexistent. Frank, Andie's uncle and Gert's brother-in-law, appears and narrates parts of the story from beyond the grave. It becomes known that Frank, as a young boy, was madly in love with Gert but married her sister instead. After Gert returns home from serving in the war as a nurse to care for Andie, her reckless brother's newborn child, Frank and Gert are forced to live everyday with their mistake. Now, as a ghost, Frank sees Andie going down the same road, and he wants to keep the past from repeating itself. However, as neat and interesting as this sounds, it doesn't quite play out that way. Frank's narrations act more as a window to the past, instead of connecting that past to the present. His presence is felt during different parts in the book, but feels nowhere near as important as it could have been. The "whispers" that Andie's supposed to hear never really happen. She never recognizes the "humming" she hears as a supernatural presence, let alone her uncle Frank. This particular aspect of the plot had so much promise, and it fell a little short. 

A few other loose ends are left by the end of the book. Now, I'm usually all for an open-ended ending; I've grown to dislike novels that wrap everything up into neat, unrealistic little packages. However, I felt that I was left with a few questions at the end (which I won't reveal for spoiler purposes) that could have been cleared up in a subtle way. Everybody doesn't have to live happily ever after, but abrupt endings (endings at all, especially in a good book) are hard to accept. 

Recommendation: Read this book. Just read it. It's beautifully crafted, and the fact that this is the author's first book is truly impressive. It's a wonderful story about love, regardless of and apart from the supernatural element. 

Rating: 4/5

320 pages, published by Berkley Publishing Group (Feb. 1, 2011)